September 30, 2012

I've seen a couple of his creations, I have even been to his shop a few times (for some work on my own bikes), I've even been mauled by his eager dogs- and I like what I see. More than that though, I like his aesthetic... French Constructeur: a fully integrated approach to crafting The Steed itself.

I
remember my dad teaching me to ride without training wheels. It was on
our driveway, riding a spider-man themed, banana-seated bike. I fell
over on the rough asphalt and got pretty scraped up. I wrote it off and
thought I'd never get near the damn thing again. About 9 months later,
I was being lazy and didn't feel like walking down the block to my
friends house so I hopped on and pedaled off, un-scathed. I've been
"lazy" ever since.

4.What was your first cycle?

The aforementioned bike. I believe. I did have a big wheel before that.

5.How about first "high-end" cycle?

Mongoose MTB... Back when Mongoose had a bit of brand integrity.

6.Did (does) your family (parents, siblings, etc) ride also?

My
dad got into MTBing about the time he bought mine at around age 11. He
and my mom had 3-speed cruisers that didn't get much use. He's since
been pretty active with the sport, riding pretty regularly and doing
triathlons now that he's retired.

7.Did you like to tinker with bikes back then?

Oh,
heck yeah. I remember the first time I needed to do something
"advanced" for a repair on the mongoose. The front hub needed repacking,
and my dad and I opened up the hub, and greased the bearings and put it
back together. Later that year, I had to replace the pawls on the
cassette as it had begun freewheeling in both directions. Alone, I took
apart 2 different hubs and got this one to work with what I could
cobble together. I think I was about 12 then. I've always liked to
build things and tinker.

8.Did you ever work in a Bike Shop... if so, where/how long?

I did from about age 16 to about age 20. This was in Macon at one of the 2 shops that existed then.

9.Have you ever done any organized racing?

No.
I've never really been über-competitive. I just want to go out and
challenge myself and have fun with friends doing the same. I didn't see
why any of us needed to be winners or losers as long as we were riding
fast and having fun.

10.How about cyclo-touring?

Not
as much as I'd like. My honeymoon was the first time I had done
anything other than overnight. We biked and trained through Austria,
Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. My bike got stolen in Eastern Hungary on
this trip and that's part of the reason I started building, though I
had a passionate interest for about 6 years prior.

11.What job(s) did you have before frame building and also-do you have any other job currently besides frame building?

I've
been in the food and wine industry for the last 10+ years. Before that
I was a bike messenger for a few years. Currently I work in specialty
retail as a manager. We sell beer, wine, cheese, charcuterie and
housewares. Food is my other passion in life and this job allows me an
avenue to express my passion and to learn about business and managing a
team of individuals with different interests, passions, and experiences.
But as I'm getting busier and busier building, this job is taking more
and more of a backseat to building.

12.When did you start building?

I
built my first frame back in 2007, to replace the frame that was stolen
in Hungary. I've been practicing and building frames as I could ever
since.

13.Who would you say is your greatest influence in designing & frame building?

Well
a few actually. Past builders that I have great respect for are Alex
Singer, René Herse, Jo Routens and others. Modern builders that I
admire are JP Weigle, Mitch Pryor (MAP Cycles), Toei in Japan, and a few
others. I admire these most because they all build in the style I
concentrate in, but there are so many other talented builders that are
either diverse builders or builders that focus on a different style of
bike. Folks like Richard Sachs and Tony Periera to name a couple. The
list could go on...

14.Did you apprentice... if so, with who?

No,
I taught myself by watching the Paterek videos and making a lot of
mistakes and trying to learn from them. From the beginning, I've pushed
myself way beyond my comfort zone and I think I've grown tremendously
as a builder because of it.

15.What's your idea of the "perfect cycle" regardless if you built it or not?

A bike that disappears underneath allowing you to focus on the journey.

16.Shooting a guess... how many frames would you say you've built?

I'm
currently working on frames 9 and 10. I've also built a lot of racks
and did a lot of random practice brazing both lugged and filet.

17.Any cycles out there that you secretly wished, "Darn, I wish I'd built that!"?

Not bikes, but certainly details from certain makers. Especially the Herse stem design.

18.Your idea of the perfect client?

Honestly,
the one that enjoys the process and the experience, that knows what he
or she wants, while simultaneously being open to suggestion from my
experience both as an avid rider and a builder.

19.What defines a nightmare client in your experience?

One
that really can't afford the right bike up front. If they are going
for a custom and spec'ing cheap products that will have to be replaced
soon instead of investing in ones that are more long-lived. It's really
the short sightedness of the situation. I've deliberately not closed a
couple potential sales with potential customers like that, hoping that
they either find another bike that will suit their purposes better at
this point or at some future point understand the ammortized-cost of
better quality goods a bit more.

20.Any words of advice to up & coming frame builders?

Well
as an up and comer myself: Don't. At least not professionally. Unless
you have extreme business savvy as well as a penchant for customer service
and the ability to build top notch bikes. Oh and you'll also need a
shit-ton of money in the first several years.

21.What
do you find most funny or peculiar (in a kind way-not brutal) about the
cycle-buying public... what don't they get or aren't they seeing?

Not
really sure about this. Maybe an ego'd lack of understanding about
bike design. I remember overhearing a conversation at a recent Oregon
Handbuilt Show: An attendee was remarking to his friends about a
handlebar bag and how it puts so much weight forward of the axle. At
first glance he's absolutely right, but then add the weight of the rider
and the amount fore of this somewhat arbitrary point is but a small
percentage of total weight of the rider and bike. It's a bit short
sighted and not fully thought through. Nothing wrong with that, it just
shows a lack of personal experience with the specific design. It's the
hubris that went along with it. I'd hate to think that folks like that
are influencing their less-experienced friends in a negative way. It's
mostly a male phenomenon though, but I hear a lot of things like that
from time to time.

22.What do you think of mass-produced bikes (without naming names)?

Depends
on the mass-production. There is pretty quality stuff out there that
is "mass"-produced and there's much cheaper stuff out there. As an
overall thing, I appreciate its existence in the market. Very few folks
would say "I think I want to start riding a bike, it's a good thing I
have several thousand dollars lying around to spend on a custom
machine."

23.What cycle don't you have anymore that you wished you did?

That's
a tough one. I've owned some neat bikes, but now that I build bikes, I
could theoretically build any of them... Maybe that Spider Man banana
seated bike for nostalgia?

24.What cycle do you currently ride most, even if it wasn't built by you?

My made-by-me 650b Randonneuse. I commute, run errands, ride brevets, camp and generally explore my world on this thing.

The second: Getting together a
team of my good riding buddies and going out on some mountain challenge
that lasts a long day or through the night. One that has us on a range
of emotions and in the end we come out rewarded and much stronger both
physically and as friends because of the experience.

27.Could you ever see yourself being Car Free... just using mass-transportation and your bike to get around?

I
was until last year. It was pretty easy to just never have owned a car
and dealing with the limitations. It's nice to have the car to pick up
heavy things or to get out of town with our dogs and just go camping or
swimming or visiting friends. I wish that the US would invest more in
mass transit. We're a big country and having alternatives that were
long sighted would be amazing.

28.Why do you think so many folks have romanticized bicycles & bicycling?

It
makes you feel like a kid and it's important to have a sense of youth
in life. I feel strongly that folks live longer if they feel younger.

29.Any (other) passions or hobbies in your life?

Travel and food, wine, cocktails or other sensory pleasures. I fancy myself a bit of a hedonist.

30.If you could say one thing to Lance Armstrong what would it be?

Given
what's going on in friends' personal lives this week: (and not in a
judgmental way) Why did you leave the woman that helped you through
cancer?

Ask
me a week ago and it would probably be: You've raised a lot of
recognition in America for the sport of cycling... What are you doing
now and next to help people grow personally in the sport, if anything?

31.In a pinch... McDonalds or Burger King?

The only time I eat either is on a brevet, so whatever's open at 3am.

32.What kind of shampoo did you last use?

Aveda something or other flavor.

33.Favorite libation: wine, beer or fire water?

All. If I could only choose one, definitely wine.

34.Even
though there seems to be a real tradition to it-what do you think of
folks who spend more time setting up their cycle with just the right
color saddle, bar tape, bags, hoods, etc than actually riding or at
least commenting on the ride?

Whatever
their passion is. For me personally, I want to enjoy the experience.
I don't begrudge folks that geek out more than ride, it takes all kinds
to make life interesting. They're also the ones that push the envelope
of style in bikes because they're the ones that have the time to be
loudest, posting and commenting on pictures of beautiful bikes and
calling attention to things that industry folks might gloss over. I
wish I had more time to geek out on stuff like that, so in a way, I envy
them.

35.Did you go to college... if so, what was your major?

No.
But I wanted to get into graphic design, advertising, linguistics,
engineering and some form of psychotherapy. In a way, owning a business
allows me to pursue many of these and I don't have any college debts.

36.Your favorite music while working (if any)?

I
don't like to put things into genres. I feel too old for that and I
don't have any time to geek out on it these days like I did in my
younger years. I like music that has soul and edge and passion, no
matter the genre. I generally gravitate towards good ole rock-n-roll.

37.If you had it to do all over again... would you be building cycles?

If
asked another way: If I won the lottery, what would I be doing? I
would absolutely be doing this. Plus product development for
touring/randonneuring parts, as I feel like racing components that
innovate for the sake of innovation have too much of the market share
these days.

38. What's your favorite lunch food during a work day in the shop?

Jeez, you mean I get to take a lunch?

39.When it's all said & done-what kind of legacy will you hope to have left behind?

I'd
like to be known as a force that changed the face of cycling somehow.
If not that, a heckuva nice guy that built some great riding bikes.

July 20, 2012

...I fear for a People, a Society, any Culture (ours, America-mainly), that does not reconnect themselves to something so pure, simple & joyous, as riding a bicycle as an adult.

Recently received an email from a pal in Pennsylvania who was ready for a new chapter to open up and kick in.
He's a retired surgeon who saved many a life, made more than a few better, and did what he could to slow the flow of the Big Black Curtain.
And he's had his own personal share of tribulations thrown at him too... a number of Ticker related issues, that ultimately led to an early retirement from the one thing he loved best, Opening up People to fix em.
He got the big All-Clear from his own personal physician and that was that, Bicycle Time.
We back & forthed a couple times, and then he waited patiently (like any rational grown-up would who is on the cusp of reconnecting with the best of being a child all over again), and a couple weeks later, The Dream was ready to crack open...

A beautiful bicycle, a grown-up who is ready & willing... The Pure Unadulterated Possibilities.

July 06, 2012

My single greatest fear as a parent is --not sharing enough information with my daughter.

Could be current events, the grand metaphors of Life & the Living of it, who Woody Allen is, what a Half-Step is, what a Mono-Chrome computer monitor looked like, what Bee's Knees means, how to make a Stink Bomb, or executing a perfect Around The World with a yo-yo, or Watergate.

The list is huge, expansive, growing and changing.

The most involved aspect of parenting for each new parental generation is walking that delicate tightrope of:
Staying in the Now, looking toward the Future, while honoring all the years Past.